LAHORE, April 28: The PML-N central working committee has expressed concern over Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri's recent statement that a roadmap for a solution to the Kashmir issue has been prepared.
A resolution adopted at a meeting here on Wednesday said the statement gave an impression that the government had abandoned its consistent and principled stand on Kashmir and was going to accept some secret plan alien to the plebiscite under the UN resolutions. It demanded that the roadmap should be presented to parliament for a debate.
Raja Zafarul Haq presided over the meeting which was participated in, among others, by Nisar Ali Khan, Begum Tehmina Daultana, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Zulfikar Khosa, Sardar Yaqub Nasir, Ahsan Iqbal, Ijaz Shafi, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Saranjaam Khan, Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, Pir Sabir Shah, Dr Asad Ashraf, Siddiqul Farooq, Rana Sanaullah Khan, Mian Asad Mohammad, Saad Rafiq, Maimoona Hashmi, Dr Basharat Jazbi, Binyamin Rizvi, Mian Javed Lateef and Zaeem Qadri.
The PML-N chairman cancelled his Cairo visit to be able to preside over the meeting. The resolution said Gen Pervez Musharraf's admission that corrupt elements had made their way to corridors of power despite all checks, had revealed the ineptness and unconstitutional status of the present government.
It said Gen Musharraf should resign both as president and army chief. Also, it said a new chief election commissioner be appointed in consultation with the opposition leader to hold fresh elections at the federal and provincial levels.
The resolution also expressed concern over the foreign minister's statement that Pakistan could send troops to Iraq to protect the UN staff there. It recalled that the statement was in harmony with Gen Musharraf's June last year's remarks after his meeting with President Bush at Camp David that he had accepted his host's request in principle that Islamabad should send troops to Iraq.
The resolution demanded that the government should adopt a clear point of view on the subject. It said unless occupation forces were withdrawn and UN troops assumed the role of peacekeepers, Pakistan should not send troops to Iraq. It pointed out that the people of Iraq regarded all foreign troops as their enemy.
Another resolution condemned the inter-provincial ban on the wheat movement, arguing that under the constitution a provincial government or the assembly had no power to take such a decision.
Calling for an immediate end to the ban, the resolution said it was regrettable that the wheat and flour prices had shot up despite the arrival of new crop in the market.
Another resolution condemned the conviction of PML-N acting president Javed Hashmi. Calling for his release, it thanked the European Parliament for its demand that the PML-N leader be set free. It hoped that other human rights organizations would also play due role in this regard.
Another resolution rejected the establishment of the National Security Council. Meanwhile, Ijaz Shafi rejected as tall claims utterances that the country had made swift economic progress during the past four years.
Talking to reporters, he said had the claims been true, the finance minister would have not got more loans on heavy interest rate. He told a questioner that Shahbaz would return home in May, come what may.